Sorry about that, but…well…life happened and I sort of just lost track.

If I’m being honest, not a whole lot has changed for the most part. I’m still at the same company (but I did get promoted), living in the same house (but we did remodel), and I’m within 4 pounds of the same weight (but it’s finally trending down again).

However, there has been one big change in the Bailey household (and, hopefully, an even bigger one on the horizon – but we’ll see).

After several years of struggling with infertility Cliff and I have decided to adopt! We’ve been working on the process for almost 6 months now and just passed our adoption home study. Our agency is a local non-profit and they have been amazing so far. Our adoption book is complete which means we can, officially, submit our profiles to birth mothers.

It’s hard to convey my current level of excitement in a blog post but trust me, it’s up there.

Cliff and I designed the entire book ourselves, and I couldn’t be more pleased with how it turned out. I would love to take 50% of the credit, but I’ll have to settle close to the 10% mark. Cliff really outdid himself – everything about it is amazing!

Making the book was certainly a labor of love. I wanted to throw my monitor through the basement window on more than one occasion. How do you encapsulate the lives of two people in 20 pages? Especially in a way you hope appeals to someone enough to entrust you with their child.

I have to say…It’s rrrrreeeeaaaalllllyyy tough.

The next step for us now is to actually match with a birth mother – which is both exhilarating and terrifying.

I’m going to do my best to post about the experience here, if for no other reason than to keep memories of this journey for ourselves. I’m not going to promise any specific timelines for posts, but it’s certainly a chapter of our lives I’ll always want to remember so I’m likely to write more often. 😊

Now, the obligatory 2017 Highlight Reel:

I started piano lessons and performed in my very first recital!

I did it!My wonderful piano teacher, Gyuli Kambarova

I graduated Summa Cum Laude and was awarded the President’s Cup for my Bachelor’s Degree.

Better late than never – still reppin’ Honor Roll well into my 30’s.She’s the goodest graduate – she has a Masters Degree in Snuggles.

I finished my Certification in Project Management.

Now I’m certified to manage…projects

We had some wins and losses on shows, concerts, and the like.

For instance, we left Hamilton at intermission (yes, you heard me correctly) but still had a ball in Chicago.

If you’re in Chicago and happen to have bad luck with Broadway, this is a great place to drown your sorrows – right across the street.

We also left both a Red Hot Chili Peppers and Modest Mouse concert less than half-way in. I’m too old to sit through a terrible live performance just because I bought tickets to it.

Our sad face when we realized there were 2 hours of opening acts before Red Hot Chili Peppers…and they were terrible.

My personal favorite was Las Vegas and Joshua Tree National Forest. Cliff’s conference was in San Diego last year and when it was over we rented a car and drove to Vegas for a few days. It was one of my favorite trips ever – so much so that we’re going back with some close friends on Wednesday! Perhaps it’ll be our last big “hurrah” before a potential Baby Bailey joins the mix.

Obligatory pensive Joshua Tree pose.Appropriately titled song for a sunset in the desert.Our first trip to Vegas included a Fountain View room at the Bellagio – likely our one and only time staying there, but a great way to be introduced to the city!Love this view!Date night in San Diego.We have a thing for sunsets over the Pacific.Gaslight District in San Diego.View from our hotel room at the Tessitura conference

We also got to spend a long weekend with my parents in Gatlinburg and had such a great time!

Hamming it up in GatlinburgCatching my parents being lovebirds.What the hell is this?!?!My amazing familySunrise from the deck of our cabin

Remember when we decided to spend every New Year’s Eve on New Smyrna beach as a new tradition?

Well, we stuck to it and rang farewell to 2017 right on the spot where we got married for the second year in a row. This time we were even fortunate enough to bring along two of our closest family members for the trip. Even though the weather was unseasonably cold (believe it or not, Florida WILL and DID freeze) we had a terrific time and can’t wait to go back.